


Coalition Victory

by Mertiya



Series: Story Circle [26]
Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, I wrote this in about three hours, In a moving vehicle, M/M, Near Future, Ravnica, gatewatch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 22:31:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11860962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mertiya/pseuds/Mertiya
Summary: Gideon Jura has led the Gatewatch to a desperate victory against Nicol Bolas.  Now, all that remains is to heal the survivors and handle the traitors who supported the elder dragon, including a certain Izzet mage.





	Coalition Victory

**Author's Note:**

> Art by the amazing Zomburai.

            It was over. Gideon wiped a sweaty brow, and then found himself sitting down, as his legs had decided they were no longer actually able to carry him anymore. How long had the Gatewatch been fighting? Hours, at least; it felt like days. But they’d done. They’d saved Ravnica.

            Niv-Mizzet, parun of the Izzet, drooping, bleeding from a dozen injuries, was curled up in the center of the square in front of New Prahv, while Selesnyans and Izzet alike fussed over him. There was blood on his jaws and a very satisfied smirk on his face; Gideon could hardly begrudge him that. He had been the one to deal the final blow, after all.

            Gideon’s head was aching, foggy with exhaustion, but he needed to check on the rest of the Gatewatch. He was their leader, and in the last few confused minutes, he’d lost track of everyone. As Nicol Bolas had risen, magic crackling from every pore, above the cityscape, as Gideon had thought for certain that even with nearly all of Ravnica working together, they were doomed—something had happened, Gideon still wasn’t sure what. He’d felt something like a static shock in his brain, heard an exclamation from Jace, and the mental connection between the Gatewatch had snapped. Moments later, Niv-Mizzet had burst from the roof of Nivix, barreling directly toward Bolas, and the machine Bolas had Tezzeret and Zarek working on had overloaded.

            It was the first time Gideon had seen Bolas shaken, and he had used that confusion to full effect, rallying the Boros and Azorius soldiers around him into one final charge against Bolas’s forces, breaking through their central line. Above them, the two dragons had fought, and, somehow, impossibly, Niv-Mizzet had won. Niv-Mizzet had _won_.

            After their loss on Amonkhet, Gideon had despaired. Bolas was so far beyond them in terms of power and intelligence—how could ever have thought they’d be able to stand up against him? But with Ravnica in danger, he’d had to fight. He knew that Jace would die to protect his plane, and Gideon wouldn’t let his friend die alone. And now—

            “Mage Jura, are you injured?” It was Lavinia, calm and collected as ever, although her cap was ripped and the side of her face matted with congealing blood.

            Gideon shook his head. “No, merely exhausted.” Staggering back to his feet took an effort. “Are—are you—”

            “It will keep,” Lavinia said. “There are others with worse wounds. I am attempting to organize triage.”

            She was always at their side, Gideon thought distractedly, the most loyal friend he could ever have imagined. “Lavinia,” he said hoarsely, and before he realized what he was going to say he had already said it, “may I kiss you?”

            For a moment, Lavinia blinked, her expression blank, and then a smile broke across her face like the sun rising. “I think I would quite enjoy kissing you,” she said, and she leaned forward. Gideon had no time to react before he found one hand on her shoulder and one hand on her waist; Lavinia’s hands rested on the front of his broad chest. She was tall, though not as tall as Gideon, but he didn’t have to bend far to reach her lips.

            Their mouths moved against one another for one long, sweet, breathless moment, before Lavinia pulled back, eyes bright. “I have to keep organizing the triage,” she said, “but perhaps we can continue this conversation later?”

            “Please,” Gideon said hoarsely, wiping the sweat from his forehead and tottering sideways. Then, “Lavinia—have you seen the rest of the Gatewatch?”

            “Chandra is with Nissa. I’m afraid Nissa’s leg is rather badly broken, but she will be all right once the healers have time to reach her. Ajani has been helping me organize the triage. I—I don’t know where Jace is. I haven’t seen him in hours.”

            Nor had Gideon. Before the battle had begun, the mind mage had said, “it will be better for everyone if no one knows where I am,” and vanished, although he had been close enough to coordinate things mentally nearly the entire time. “I’ll find him,” Gideon said. “I promise, I’ll—”

            There was a commotion in the center of the square. Zarek—the Izzet mage who had been working for Bolas—was dragging himself exhaustedly across the field of battle. In one hand, he held something long and silver that glinted orange in the light of the dying sun. His clothes were singed and ragged, and his head was drooping. Anger surged through Gideon, and he reached for his surral, but before he could do any more than take a minute motion in the traitor’s direction, he heard Jace’s voice.

            “ _Ral_!” And for the first time in hours, Jace appeared. His arrival was heralded by nothing more than a slight flicker in the air, and it occurred to Gideon that Jace hadn’t been very far away at all; the whole time, he had probably been lurking on the fringes of the battle under cover of invisibility. Despite the fact that he had presumably not engaged in much physical combat, he had not escaped unscathed. There was mud caked up to his knees, and several dark stains decorated the arms and torso of his usually spotless blue tunic, which Gideon thought worriedly might very well be blood. Beside that, Jace’s face beneath his nose was half-hidden beneath a layer of bright red blood, twin heavy tracks originating at his nose and daubing his cheeks, mouth, and chin, and, even from here, Gideon could see that his face was chalk-white. But he was grinning from ear to ear.

            Even as Gideon watched, Jace raced across the cobblestones toward Zarek, who had turned as soon as he heard Jace’s cry, reflexively dropping the thing he was holding. Gideon’s mouth dropped open as Jace leaped off the ground and into Zarek’s arms, their lips meeting in a sudden, desperate kiss. Zarek swung him around and broke the kiss, but only for Jace to start kissing every inch of the Izzet mage’s face he could reach.

            Still a little concerned and rather confused, Gideon trotted in their direction, reaching Jace’s side in time to hear his friend half-sobbing, “Mother of _storms_ , we did it, Ral, we really—really—we actually _did_ it!”

            The thing that Zarek had dropped was an arm. Made of some kind of bright, intricate metalwork, it seemed oddly familiar, but it was a long moment before Gideon could place it. Tezzeret. It was Tezzeret’s arm, marked with filth and blood on both ends; this close Gideon could see that the front of Zarek’s tunic had been shredded, and he was bleeding from several long, parallel lacerations.

            Gideon cleared his throat. Although Jace deserved as much privacy as he could possibly handle, it was probably better at this point to clear up any lingering confusion or doubts over Zarek’s role in the recent battle. “Um,” Gideon said. “Jace?”

            Zarek let Jace stumble back down into a standing position, although the two of them continued to lean against one another in a deeply intimate fashion. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you,” Jace said. “I—I couldn’t protect all of the minds of the Gatewatch against Bolas, it was as much as I could do to shield me and Ral. Um, Ral, this is Gideon.”

            “Yeah, I think we’ve run into each other on occasion,” the Izzet mage drawled. “Literally. His fist was in my face a few days ago, remember?” So that was how Zarek had gotten away. The Gatewatch had raided his lab and captured him, and a few hours later, he’d been gone again, leaving behind a mind mage who swore he’d only taken his eyes off him for a few seconds. Gideon chuckled. “So, Jace, when you said he’d overpowered you—”

            Jace grinned shamefacedly. “I guess I wasn’t trying all that hard to fight back. Gideon, meet Ral Zarek, Izzet scientist, and the absolute best undercover boyfriend a Guildpact could have.”

            “You realize that’s going to be incredibly complicated now, right?” Zarek grumbled. “Did you have to kiss me in front of half of Ravnica, including Niv?”

            “Yup.” Jace leaned sideways and kissed him again. “I mean, yes, I did, this should take care of at least some of the dirty looks people are going to be giving you.”

            “So I get to trade assassination attempts on account of being Bolas’s stooge for ones on account of being your lover? Sounds fantastic.” But Zarek’s arm hadn’t left Jace’s waist.

            “Good to meet you,” Gideon said. “I suppose this makes you the newest member of the Gatewatch.”

            Zarek rolled his eyes. “It’s _such_ a stupid name,” he grumbled. “I mean, what do you think the gates are going to do if you don’t watch them? Run off? Besides, I’ve been a member since before Ajani, you just didn’t know about it.”

            “That’s not when our plan started, is it?” Jace objected. “Hm. Maybe it is. I’m not sure, we’ll have to compare notes.”

            “At any rate, good to have you on the team,” Gideon said with a smile. “Although I’m going to want a full report on what just happened. Maybe not for another few days, though.”

            “Ugh. Jace, you can handle that.”

            “Oh, as if I’m _not_ going to be swimming in paperwork? Thanks, Ral.”

            “If you do it, I’ll—” Zarek leaned down and murmured something in Jace’s ear, and the Guildpact went dark red from ear to ear.

            “O-Okay,” he said. “I suppose I can put something together.”

            “I think I’d better go help Lavinia with the triage,” Gideon said. “I’m glad to see you’re mostly all right, Jace. Maybe see a healer later, though, both of you?”

            Zarek glanced across the square at where Niv Mizzet still lay sprawled. “I think I’m going to take an off-plane vacation until that paperwork exonerating me comes through,” he said. “Jace—”

            “I can pop back in and file it tomorrow or something,” Jace said. “Gideon, you don’t think that will be a problem?”

            Gideon shook his head. “There will be a mountain of it to process. I’ll let Lavinia know where you are—where are you going?”

            “I’m thinking Kaladesh?”

            “Yeah,” Zarek agreed. “I’ve got friends there, we can get healed up and take a nice break with some artifacts. Artifacts that _aren’t_ trying to kill us sound nice for a change.” With some viciousness, he kicked the metal arm on the ground beside them.

            “I’ll see both of you soon, then,” Gideon said, giving them both another warm smile and a nod. Wiping the sweat off of his forehead, he glanced across to see that Chandra had caught sight of Zarek and was standing up from where she had been crouched beside Nissa. “I’d—better go handle Chandra,” he said hurriedly. “Take care of each other.”

            “Oh, we will,” Zarek said, with a lazy grin. “Come on, Jace.”

            As Gideon set off at a low jog, he felt, for a brief moment, the heat-cold of the Eternities at his back. Well, he hadn’t seen that coming, but it had all worked out for the best. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a glimmer of cerulean, and he turned to see Lavinia giving him a smile and a wave. Yes, it had all worked out for the best.

 


End file.
